F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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15

“Please wait in front of the measurement device for a moment.”

“Understood.”

A mana measurement room located on the top floor like Mir Guild.

The difference was that unlike Mir Guild, they didn’t occupy an entire floor, but shared the top floor with other offices.

At a glance, it violated the measurement room size regulations set by the Hunter Association.

‘I can roughly see how they operate.’

After passing through the magic stone theft prevention system and entering the measurement room, he could see a scout moving busily beyond the glass window of the control room.

After moving around for a few minutes, his voice soon came through the microphone.

“If you place your hand in front, we’ll start the measurement right away.”

“Yes.”

Juhyeok placing his hand on the mana measuring device.

As expected, the same message as before appeared this time too.

[If you consume this magic stone, you can immediately upgrade the Training Room!]

[Consume the magic stone to absorb mana.]

He had wondered what would happen if they used a low-grade magic stone.

But no matter what, they weren’t so pathetic as to put cheap magic stones in the mana measuring device.

“We’ll start the measurement, so please don’t remove your hand and wait.”

As he nodded in response to the instruction, the operating sound rang from the mana measuring device.

The scout looked at the monitor, then soon got distracted by something else and started moving around busily.

Using his free left hand to quickly steal the magic stone.

The magic stone inside the mana measuring device was structured so that it could be reached just by extending his hand, making it easy to extract.

Usually mana measurement rooms don’t even install CCTV in case of errors, so this was perfect timing when no one’s eyes were on him.

Juhyeok quickly swallowed the magic stone at the same time as the warning sound rang when the magic stone was removed.

[Extracting mana from the consumed magic stone.]

Successfully consumed magic stone.

While mana was being absorbed into his body, a panicked voice came through the microphone at the warning sound.

“Why is this suddenly happening… Hunter Juhyeok, did you perhaps touch the magic stone?”

“No? I was staying still but it started acting up on its own?”

Fortunately, the staff member didn’t see the magic stone eating show.

When he answered with an expression of knowing nothing, the staff member looked around everywhere with a flustered expression, then soon came over from the control room to the mana measurement room.

“Could you please step out for a moment.”

“Yes, understood.”

Juhyeok removing his hand and watching from behind.

The staff member frantically examined the machine and soon noticed there was no magic stone inside.

“…Mr. Juhyeok, was there no magic stone in the measurement device from when you entered?”

He was clearly suspecting Juhyeok.

If there had been no magic stone from the beginning, the measurement device wouldn’t have operated at all.

If it shut down with a warning sound while running, it meant the power was lost midway.

That fact led to the deduction that Juhyeok had removed the magic stone.

At the natural suspicion, Juhyeok shook his head with an unconcerned expression.

“Well, I’m not sure… Did some problem occur by any chance?”

“….”

Suspicious glances flying at him as if trying to bore through his face.

After a moment of silence, he pointed outside the measurement room and said.

“There seems to be an error with the measurement device. Could you wait in the office right next door for a moment?”

The exit he was politely pointing to with his palm.

In front of that exit, the theft prevention system device they had just passed could be seen.

‘The message saying mana extraction is complete hasn’t appeared yet.’

Perhaps because it was a magic stone containing quite a lot of mana, the magic power extraction wasn’t finishing quickly like last time.

If the mana hadn’t been fully extracted yet, he would definitely get caught by the theft prevention system.

He needed to buy some time until the magic stone was completely digested.

“What’s going on here? Is there a problem with the mana measuring device?”

“You don’t need to worry. If you wait in the office for a moment, I’ll prepare it again.”

“I don’t have that much time right now.”

The staff member trying to make him move toward the theft prevention system with confidence.

Juhyeok desperately struggling to buy time somehow.

A heavy silence fell between them as their eyes met in a battle of nerves.

“It’ll just take a very brief moment. Three minutes will be enough, so please step outside and wait.”

“….”

A situation where it was difficult to make any other excuses.

If he tried to stall for more time here, it would only raise suspicion.

“Understood.”

Footsteps moving reluctantly.

With each step, one step, two steps gradually approaching the theft prevention system, his heart pounded violently.

‘Please, come out quickly….’

Sweat trickled down below his cheek from the tension.

The staff member’s cold gaze and the red light of the theft prevention system alternately shook him.

In front of the exit, reached after the slowest possible steps he could take without seeming awkward.

Just as he squeezed his eyes shut and stepped forward.

[Mana has been absorbed.]

[Training Room upgrade and operation is now possible!]

The message appeared before his eyes at truly critical timing.

“Phew.”

A sigh escaped without him realizing it.

However, he couldn’t just feel relieved.

Thinking back to when he was first drawn into the artifact, this time too he could be forcibly caught up in spatial transfer.

As he tensely watched the situation, another message appeared.

[Would you like to enter right now?]

‘…Thank goodness. It’s not dragging me in immediately?’

When he looked at it thinking he absolutely couldn’t go now, the message disappeared on its own.

As his steps stopped momentarily because his attention was diverted, the staff member spoke.

“What’s wrong? Is there some problem?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Juhyeok moved forward, leaving behind the suspicious gaze.

He passed right through the theft prevention system, and as expected, the machine showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Huh?”

The staff member was flustered when the theft prevention system, which he thought would definitely go off, didn’t make a single sound.

Juhyeok looked at him and asked nonchalantly.

“What’s wrong?”

“….”

A dumbfounded face.

His thinking seemed to have stopped in front of an unsolvable puzzle.

For him, this situation probably made no sense at all.

The magic stone that had been there fine was gone, and the only suspect’s innocence was proven.

‘It would be difficult to even figure out where things went wrong.’

The staff member alternated between looking at the measurement device and Juhyeok for a while, then quickly grasped the situation and bowed his head rapidly.

“Ah, no. There just seems to have been a brief misunderstanding.”

“I see.”

The positions had completely reversed.

Now that his innocence was proven, Juhyeok rode this momentum and asked the staff member in a cold tone.

“I guess GGH is a guild that has trouble with just one mana measurement.”

“Well, this kind of thing doesn’t usually happen….”

“I can tell just by looking at the measurement room size that doesn’t meet regulations.”

Naturally shifting responsibility by mentioning the inappropriate environment.

When he took issue with the measurement room size, the staff member couldn’t say anything and just stood there bewildered.

“I’ll pretend today’s conversation about the contract never happened.”

With those words, the elevator arrived just in time.

Several burly men who appeared to be security team members came out from inside.

‘They even called security in the meantime.’

The security team clearly called because of the stolen magic stone.

Looking at their intimidating builds, they were definitely not ordinary people.

The man with the most menacing appearance at the front of the security team looked at the staff member and said.

“What did you press the emergency call for?”

“Ah, well….”

An awkward gaze that avoided eye contact as the security guard he had called approached.

Juhyeok calmly passed between the burly men and got on the elevator, regardless.

The staff member’s reaction was completely opposite to the expression he had when looking at the protesting woman at the main entrance like she was a bug.

He stared directly at that expression and gave a slight smile, and finally relaxed when the door closed.

“…That was almost a disaster.”

The digestion took quite a while because he had consumed a magic stone with a large amount of mana.

If it had taken longer, he would have been caught by the security team and gotten into quite a troublesome situation.

‘If they had done a body search and found the artifact, it would have been over. I barely survived.’

In a way, it was a gamble that could have ended his life immediately.

Juhyeok thought it might be better to gather them steadily rather than take unnecessary risks, but he couldn’t wait so leisurely.

Even at this moment, Im Hyeongju, whom he had overwhelmingly defeated, must be catching up at a completely different pace.

Not only that, but everyone in the world with talent was growing rapidly.

‘I can’t fall behind.’

He didn’t want to see someone’s back from behind again.

Since it was a dangerous situation where the artifact could be discovered at any time, he needed to quickly become a hunter capable of protecting himself.

For a child who was naturally slow, just walking without stopping wasn’t enough.

“I have to keep running.”

A spell he cast on himself while looking in the mirror.

Juhyeok wiped his face and walked out of the elevator that had arrived at the first floor.

He roughly took off his access card, threw it in the trash can, and left the building.

Under the slightly darkened sky, the mother of the overworked hunter he had seen when entering was still standing in that same spot.

“….”

His gaze went to her.

Around the same age as our mother.

According to the article, her husband also lost his life in an accident when their son was young, so she raised her son alone.

And her son awakened, desperately graduated from the academy, then went from gate to gate as an F-rank Hunter.

Afterward, her son died from overwork, and all that remained for that woman was a mere 2 million won in consolation money.

‘If I hadn’t obtained the artifact….’

Looking at the woman protesting alone, he thought of his mother hospitalized.

If he hadn’t encountered the artifact and had joined GGH, wouldn’t he have ended up in a similar situation?

‘This is wrong.’

Juhyeok wasn’t grateful that he had encountered the artifact.

He didn’t feel relieved that the woman standing there wasn’t his parent.

Instead, anger surged to the top of his head.

He felt disgust toward GGH for creating this revolting reality he might have reached.

Juhyeok quietly clenched his fist and went into the nearby convenience store to buy ion drinks and snacks before coming out.

“….”

The victim’s mother had no intention of going home even though it was almost dinner time.

Juhyeok didn’t say a word to her and quietly placed the convenience store bag beside her before leaving.

She gave no response at first, but when he had walked about five steps away, a reply came back.

“…Thank you.”

“….”

What words would be good to say in response.

He couldn’t grasp what kind of words would be comforting.

So he just disappeared without saying anything.

That was the best he could do at the moment.

*

“I’ve sent a message to Mother too… shall I go now.”

After finishing all preparations, he grasps the mark.

Then a message appears.

[Would you like to enter immediately?]

Without needing to say anything, he nods in agreement and his body gets pulled in.

Along with a sensation that felt somewhat familiar yet still unfamiliar, he lost consciousness.

“….”

During what felt like an instant, he opens his eyes again to his darkened vision.

A different landscape unfolds before him.

Trees sprouting here and there, he had arrived in a forest-like area.

It seemed the environment had also changed due to the upgrade.

‘Where is the doll?’

Immediately after Spatial Transfer, he looks for the doll.

Pushing through the trees, the doll that had beaten his back a million times appears and throws a sword in front of him just like the first time.

‘Let’s begin.’

He had already finished his mental preparation before entering.

He waits for the doll that would come running with its sword…

‘…Why is it just standing still?’

Despite having grabbed the sword, the doll doesn’t move.

While feeling puzzled yet not letting his guard down.

A message appeared in front of him.

[Defeat Swordsman Doll 1,000,000 times 0/1,000,000]

[Defeat Archer Doll 1,000,000 times 0/1,000,000]

“…What?”

Along with the message, the sound of wind.

Jung Juhyeok immediately rolled his body to the side at the eerie sensation and confirmed an arrow embedded where he had been standing.

‘Archer?’

He thought only the background had been upgraded, but this time a doll appeared as an archer.

Setting aside his bewildered feelings, just as he tried to quickly locate the archer’s position, the Swordsman Doll that had been quietly watching from the front moved and attacked.

Kiiiiik!

“Kuk!”

The Swordsman Doll gives him no time to think.

A barrage of arrows pouring from behind.

“Keuhk!”

From his back where the arrow struck, he feels vivid pain.

“What is this…”

A difficulty on a completely different level from the previous Training Room.

The upgraded pain tightened around Jung Juhyeok.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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